As she surveyed the room and saw everything he’d set out, a smile of anticipation lifted her lips. That, he expected. But the hope in her blue eyes surprised him.
“I’ve missed you. The last few weeks have been so...” She stopped herself, just when she might have said something important, and caressed his face with a soft, clinging stare. “I’m glad you’re here and that you want me.”
Her voice said that she’d been worried by the possibility that he hadn’t after their Thanksgiving row, but she didn’t verbalize it. That frustrated Liam. “No matter what you think, I’ve always wanted you, Raine. From the very first minute I laid eyes on you.”
She smiled, and he swore he could see her heart in her eyes. Something far deeper than desire lay there. Why wouldn’t she just bloody tell him?
Liam caressed the silky hair at her crown, then cupped her cheek. “I’ve tried to voice how I feel about you. I’m still not sure you actually understand how strong my feelings have become, but now isn’t the time for talking. Open yourself to me and let me show you.”
“I’m not very good at telling you my feelings.” She brushed a kiss across his lips. “But I’ll do my best to show you, too.”
Then she lowered herself to the bed, legs parted, arms over her head, just as he’d requested. It was a sight to behold. Her rosy nipples cresting plump breasts, the long, lean line of her torso leading down to sleek thighs, and the strip of dark hair above her otherwise bare folds made him ache and sweat.
As Liam hovered above her, he couldn’t look away. Sexually, everything between them had always been as hot as a live wire, urgent, connected. This was one place her submission shined. Raine gave him everything in bed. But sharing her whole body was a thousand times easier for her than sharing even a part of the woman beneath.
Unbuttoning his shirt and shrugging it off, he toed off his shoes, and sat on the chair opposite to strip off his socks. He still couldn’t take his eyes off her, all gracefully arranged and spread out before him. He growled in satisfaction as she spread her thighs even wider, displaying his cunt and his ass, both reserved for his pleasure alone. Sorrow and pride blended, beautiful and bittersweet.
He pushed the melancholy aside. By god, regardless of today’s outcome, she would feel him so deeply inside her—mind, body, and soul—that she’d forever hold a piece of him close.
He unfastened his belt and unzipped carefully over his straining erection. His cock already wept for her, throbbing to be enveloped in her silken heat. He forced himself to be patient.
Walking to the bed, he reached for the cuffs, securing her wrists and ankles. He heard the soft quiver of her indrawn breath, then watched her test his restraints.
“You’ll not be going anywhere until I say so. While you’re with and under me, I’m going to talk to you with my mouth, my hands, my body. I want you to listen and tell me what I’m saying to you. Be specific, Raine. I want to hear about the sensations, your level of intensity.” He leaned over her, knee pressed to the mattress between her legs, and delved into her eyes. “More important, find the words to tell me how my actions make you feel. Do that for me.”
“I’ll do my best to communicate.”
He leaned into her face, pinning her to the bed with a firm stare. “Your very best, Raine. Nothing less.”
Sudden apprehension rolled across her expression. She grasped his displeasure, lingering since Thanksgiving. She felt it. But she didn’t broach the subject. In fact, they hadn’t spoken at all about that day. He’d tried. The first time she’d lured him to silence with a blow job, and he cursed himself for letting her lead him astray. The second time, she’d suddenly remembered a task she’d neglected to finish to ready the dungeon for play that night. Liam had followed her, still talking…only to be stopped short when he spied Hammer and Beck already in the room. He hadn’t bothered trying to talk to Raine again.
Now he’d get her attention.
“I expect you’ll let me know how you’re feeling with the colors of the traffic lights. Do you remember?”
“Of course.”
“And tell me your safe word.”
“Paris.”
“Excellent.” He released a little slack in the chains attached to the cuffs at her ankles and bent her knees to make a cradle for him.
Wretchedly eager to feel her, Liam covered her body with his own—and forced himself to do nothing more than rub his cock along the wet, engorged lips of her sex. Raine whimpered and tried to wriggle her hips to align the head with her opening. Sliding inside her was so tempting. It would be so easy to simply let the pleasure take over. But so unfulfilling in the end.